The Reunion Saga
by EvanescentCrimson
Summary: Sequel for 'If you love him, let him go'. George has resurrected Fred, and they are on the run. Their new journey, a new life, begins now. Where there is Fred and George Weasley, there will be chaos, fun, and of course... slash. M Rating.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: **The contents of the following story are my own original work. The characters, trademarks and associated brands you may recognize from Harry Potter all belong to J. K. Rowling and in no way am I claiming them as my own. In order for you to fully understand a lot of the content of this story, you will need to read 'Three Cheers to Friendship' by Bl00dofthevine, as the stories entwine.

**Pre AN:** You'll notice that I've changed from the preview a bit, but I think its better… Don't you?

**Warnings:** **Age Restricted: M as of chapter 4, **There will be slash in the story, so if you don't like slash - YOU ARE FOREWARNED!! Don't bitch at me about it… Also, there's going to be strong language, crude humour. Etc.

**1. Reunion **

* * *

**Christmas Eve: Hogwarts Hall decimated in surprise assault - Dark involvement suspected**

The night before last, late on Christmas Eve and after the entire castle had retired to bed, (writes Fay Gossmith, special correspondent for the Daily Prophet) Hogwarts School was broken into by an unidentified intruder.

"It is expected that entry was gained through a hidden passage of some kind, as there are no signs of forced entry through the gates. The centaurs in the forest also report that they did not see anyone entering through the forest." says a distraught Minerva McGonagall, currently headmistress of Hogwarts School. Apparently, however, nobody at the school reports knowledge of any kind of hidden passage into the school. McGonagall, while unable to disclose the whereabouts of such a passage, says that the possibility of its existence is quite plausible, as the castle has been around for very long, and no one can possibly know all its secrets.

A squadron of Aurors and Curse-breakers from the ministry were summoned to the scene by McGonagall upon discovery that the great hall had been entered and sealed from the inside. The suspect/s, however, escaped - how this escape was orchestrated is still a mystery. Comments from the head of the Auror Department - Harry Potter - are yet to be given.

Upon forced entry, the hall was discovered to have been set up for some kind of unnamed dark ritual. Most of the evidence was destroyed. The remaining evidence, or any other details, are as yet undisclosed by the ministry.

Christmas Eve's events are also being linked with the sudden disappearance of a Hogwarts teacher, George Weasley. Should anyone have any leads as to the culprit behind this incident, or the whereabouts of Mr Weasley, we urge you to please send an owl to the ministry's Auror department immediately.

Terrible dark magic is expected to be at play, and the cooperation of everyone at this point is required and expected.

* * *

George looked deeply into Fred's eyes. It was true: their original reunion had been interrupted by a Ministry assault, but luckily, the aurors hadn't been on time. Fred was alive, and they had escaped. George had placed a couple of well chosen curses and charms, preventing the ministry from collecting much evidence, before taking the Elvegora manual and running for it. He'd lead Fred out of the hall through a side door, under the invisibility cloak, and they'd escaped through a few useful passages, across the back of the grounds, via the Whomping Willow, and through the Shrieking Shack.

They were now very far away from Hogwarts, in London, in a dingy apartment George had been renting from a muggle family for a few months prior, in preparation.

Fred dropped the copy of the Daily Prophet unceremoniously before saying, "So, you're saying that I've been dead for more than twenty years, since You-Know-Who, and you resurrected me?"

"Yes" George sighed, trying for about the tenth time to explain in better detail. "Don't you remember, that night? Any of it?"

"I… I don't really remember much of anything, really. It's all very vague, like its all behind some kind of veil, and I can't see through it"

"But, you remember me? And Hogwarts?" George asked, quizzical.

"Yes. That's all quite clear. And I remember mom, and Ron and them. I remember Dumbledore… School…" Fred seemed to be racking his memory for anything unusual. "I remember the green flash - that must've been when I… I died?"

"Yes, that's it, Um" George struggled to remember any other important things Fred should remember. "What about Dumbledore dying? Do you remember that?"

"Yeah, I do" Fred said hotly. "Snape killed him. I remember that!"

"Snape was on our side, you know… Dumbledore had Snape kill him, but, he was with us till the end. Harry even named one of his sons after Snape…"

George caught a glimpse of himself in a full length mirror hanging against the door and stopped for a few seconds, marvelling at his youthful appearance. He looked about sixteen, seventeen maybe. Fred looked slightly older than he did, still nineteen like he'd been when he died. For the next part of George's plan, they'd need to give Fred a bit of de-ageing potion too - so they'd both be around sixteen.

"George?"

Snapping out of his short reverie, George said, "Yeah?"

"What now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean" Fred searched for the right way to say it for a few moments. "I mean, what are we going to do now? You know - the ministry's looking for you, and Hogwarts is being investigated, We can't go back to our family, that'd be too weird. Dangerous, probably…"

He looked almost sad.

"I know" said George. "We're going to start a completely new life. We'll be transferring to Hogwarts soon, from America or something, once we've changed ourselves up a bit… We'll need new identities, and we'll have to change the way we look, enough that no one will recognise us" seeing Fred's panicked expression, he added, "It's going to be fun"

The buzzing traffic outside the window of their third storey apartment was becoming increasingly impossible to talk over as the morning progressed, so they simply sat in silence, relishing in each others' presence.

*

When Fred and George entered The Leaky Cauldron that evening (the evening of December 26th), at dusk, they were disguised under long, hooded black cloaks. Fred stopped dead when he saw none other than Lee Jordan, their old school friend, behind the counter. Having been dead two decades, Fred wouldn't know that Lee had bought the old Inn a couple of years earlier.

George grabbed him around the shoulders, leading him past the counter and out back, into Diagon Alley.

They headed straight down the street towards the massive white stone building that housed Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Their first task was to empty George's vault into a new one, and then to take the small fortune which was still resting, untouched, in Fred's vault as well. It was not going to be very easy, seeing as one of them was supposed to be dead, and the other missing.

Approaching the counter, and a goblin right at the far end who didn't look busy, Fred said, "Are you sure you can do this?"

"If you just act natural, yes. Plenty strange, robed characters come in here all the time, no one'll find it suspicious unless we draw attention to ourselves"

It was true, it being almost closing time, that no one paid much attention to them. There were very few people in the bank, and only a handful of goblins still on duty. The goblin they'd approached looked up.

"Yes?"

"We've come to empty two vaults, as well as set up a new account, if you'll be so kind as to help us?" Gorge said.

"Keys?"

"Have them here" Fred said, holding out his hand and dropping both keys onto the counter. George aimed his wand discreetly at the goblin from down his sleeve.

The goblin eyed both keys sceptically in the palm of his hand, raiding an eyebrow. He looked up at them again. "This… can't be. You are Fred and George Weasley?"

"Imperio" George whispered.

The goblin looked dazed for a moment, then got up saying, "Follow me, then"

An hour later, both vaults had been cleared, a new account opened and recorded under the name 'Aiden Crowe', and they were ready to leave.

George deftly, and without drawing any notice to himself, threw the invisibility cloak over the goblin. He silently ordered it to follow them outside - it was still under the Imperius curse - and they lead it outside, around a corner and into a deserted alley packed full of empty wooden crates.

Fred watched, mouth open in shock, as George silenced the goblin with a blinding jet of green light, and then transfigured in into another wooden crate.

"What?" He said, looking from the new crate to Fred.

"You… You killed him" Fred stuttered. "Wasn't there another way?"

"I could have put a memory charm on him, but those can be broken. So no, we had to kill him" Seeing the rather flabbergasted look on Fred's face, he said. "It's a small price to pay - and we've come this far. It won't be much longer now… we won't need to kill anyone else, I hope…"

They set off back to their apartment in the heart of London, where they stayed until the following morning.

*

The goal of their next trip to Diagon Alley was to procure Fred a wand. This trip, however, was cut short before it even began by the arrival of the Daily Prophet, which they had an old Squib from downstairs bringing them every day.

The headline on the front page was:

**Gringotts goblin killed by unknown strangers in mysterious break-in**

The underlying article described a very vague idea that somebody had obviously entered the Bank in the dead of night, guided by so called 'dark forces', and kidnapped the goblin in question.

"The body of this specific goblin," it read, "was found by an auror in a deserted alleyway, meters away from the Bank. It had been transfigured into a crate"

George looked up from the article at Fred. "How the hell did they find him? No one could possibly have thought to try the crates… I didn't think…"

Fred, however, looked sombre. "What if they check what he'd been up to? The goblin… I mean. If they see it was our accounts he was closing… They'll know about our new accounts… They'll catch us"

"Nah. Gringotts goblins never sign transactions, I've heard Bill criticising them about it. They couldn't trace exactly who'd closed our accounts, I don't think - or the article would probably be a bit clearer, or correct… They're just saying something, so it looks like they have an idea of what happened. I don't think they do, though, and the goblins will hardly let the ministry investigate"

"I hope you're right" Fred said, as he got up to start on breakfast. They'd done a little grocery shopping the previous evening too, so there was food in the apartment.

"Well, we won't go back for a few days. Just in case" George said, going after Fred as he left the small room. Upon entering the living room, however, he found the door open, barred by a tall, young, foreign-looking warlock in dark robes. He had his wand levelled at Fred's chest.

**AN:** So - That was chapter 1 of part 2. I really hope it's started relatively well, though, the real action won't pick up for a little bit.

Remember, reviews would be appreciated - Let me know what you think!! Ideas, input, anything so I know there's still readers…

Thanks! And don't forget to check out 'Three Cheers to Friendship' by Bl00dofthevine!


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: **The contents of the following story are my own original work. The characters, trademarks and associated brands you may recognize from Harry Potter all belong to J. K. Rowling and in no way am I claiming them as my own. In order for you to fully understand a lot of the content of this story, you will need to read 'Three Cheers to Friendship' by Bl00DofTheViNE, as the stories entwine.

**Warnings:** **Age Restricted: M as of chapter 4, **There will be slash in the story, so if you don't like slash - YOU ARE FOREWARNED!! Don't bitch at me about it… Also, there's going to be strong language, crude humour. Etc.

**2. Minor Hiccoughs **

"You are Aiden Crowe?" said the warlock in a gruff, hollow voice which was heavily accented with some or another Northern brogue.

"I, er," Fred stuttered, but George, his own wand raised, walked forward and said, "No, I'm Aiden Crowe. Who the hell are you?"

"Mr. Crowe, this is your older brother then? I am Jörmund Mazin, auror on the case of the abduction and consequent murder of a Gringotts goblin last night. It is discovered that you opened an account with the goblin in question only hours before the discovery of his body. I am to question you, please"

"Oh, of course, just read about it in the paper. Please, come in" George said, motioning to Fred to leave the room while he set a kettle to boil with his wand. "So, what do you want to know?" He directed this question at the auror.

Jörmund came into the room, closing the door behind him, and sat down on the old sofa by the window. "You need to know, Mr. Crowe, that we cannot rule you out as a suspect, since you were the last to see the goblin in question before his disappearance"

"Yes, of course. Regulation procedure must be followed, I completely understand. I'll be happy to help" George poured himself a cup of tea, offering and then pouring Jörmund one too.

"Can you tell me, then, when yesterday were you at Gringotts?"

George was internally extremely grateful that the auror questioning him seemed to be foreign, because he didn't seem to know Fred and himself, or what they were supposed to look like, or they'd be completely fucked.

"Er, well, I was in at about five, maybe six, yesterday evening. Must've left at about six-thirty. I just needed to deposit some money into a new account quickly…"

"And did you notice anything, anyone strange while you were there?"

"Yes, actually" George said, feigning a look of suspicion. "There was a robed, hooded pair who came in as I was leaving. Though, you see that kind of stuff a lot in there, so I didn't think anything of it"

"Describe to me, what did these look like?" Jörmund looked genuinely interested now.

"Well, they were both quite tall, er, their robes were pure black. I didn't see any other defining features really. Not that I can remember…"

"Thank you, Mr. Crowe. These people have been identified by others too - it seems that it is them who are primary suspects. I'll be going now. Good day to you, and sorry for disturbing"

"Oh, no, don't you worry" George said, "Anything for the law. I hope this all gets sorted out swiftly. Good day"

The auror left, and George let out a sigh of relief. Pouring another cup of tea, and one for Fred, he called to the bedroom, "Kay, you can come out now. Got rid of him…"

When Fred didn't answer, or reappear, George took both cups of tea back to the bedroom. Hermione Weasley was standing over a stunned Fred, wand raised.

"Care to explain?" she said, sounding (and looking) livid.

"What are you doing here?" George, still too shocked to realise what was actually going on, inquired.

"Oh, right, well - I'm with the department of Magical Law Enforcement, that you know. I was here (under a disillusionment charm) to witness the interrogation, for the ministry… and I couldn't help but notice the two of you, very much alive, standing around in the middle of London. Under aliases as well… **Care to explain?**"

"Hermione, er, you need to understand…"

"Understand what?" she practically shouted, "Do you have any idea… your whole family, George, your mother! We've been so worried. No sign of you for days! What the fuck is going on?"

"Hermione, I…" George stuttered, unsure of what to say or do, "I'm sorry. Please, you have to understand. No one was supposed to know. We, I, didn't want anyone to know what I did. Please…"

"Evidently. I'm going to have to take you two in. You're in serious, SERIOUS trouble. Do you know that?" Hermione seemed to have regained some of her composure, though she still looked terribly unimpressed.

"I'm afraid you can't do that. Please, Hermione, don't force me to do something I'm going to regret… If you leave now, promise you won't tell anyone, ever, what you saw today… I'll let you go"

"There is no way in hell you're getting away with this! Not on my watch, at any rate!" Hermione raised her wand, started top say something, but George had disarmed her before she had the chance to finish.

"No matter, I've mastered wandless magic, you know…" She pointed her open hand at George, muttered 'Expelliarmus' and George was relieved of his wand too.

"Not so fast. Crucio!" George said, also pointing an open hand at Her. Hermione fell to the floor on her hands and knees, gasping, but the curse didn't take full effect as it was weakened by not being cast with a wand. "Don't worry, I won't torture you for long" he said, picking up his wand again, and turning on Hermione. "Imperio"

Hermione straightened up, looking dazed.

"Now, this is how we're going to do this, George said, reviving Fred's stunned form. Fred looked up, groggy.

"You and I are going to perform the unbreakable vow…"

"Yes" Hermione said, complacent.

"You're going to swear that no one will ever hear about what happened here today, not from you…"

"Yes" Hermione said again.

"And then I'm going to adjust your memory, just a smidge, so you won't remember either… Even if someone re-adjusts your memory though, the unbreakable vow will still be in place… Quite ingenious, don't you think?"

Another "Yes" from Hermione.

"Right. Fred, do you know how the unbreakable vow works?"

Fred, still looking quite groggy, shook his head.

"Fine, Hermione, Fred link hands… I'll be the bonder"

Hermione stepped forward, holding out her right hand. Fred grasped it, pulling himself to his feet.

"Right, Fred, you'll need to ask: Will you, Hermione Weasley, swear never to tell anyone, living or not, about the continued existence of Fred and George Weasley, or about anything you may know about one, Aiden Crowe?"

George touched the tip of his wand to their joined hands, Fred repeated the question.

"I swear" said Hermione, still dazed and complacent.

A thin flame cord issued from the tip of George's wand, followed shortly by another. The two cords of flame intertwined around Fred and Hermione's clamped fists, forming a chain. A third cord issued, binding itself around their hands, glowing for a moment then disappearing. They broke contact, and at the same time, the Hermione broke out of the Imperius curse's hold.

"No!" she growled, rounding on George, her right hand raised. "I… I didn't!"

"Too late. You did, now… Obliviate!"

There was a flash of light, and Hermione crumpled forward, landing in a heap in the floor again. George, with a casual flick of his wand, sent her and her discarded wand back to her office at the Ministry.

"That was, unfortunate" George said, looking at his shocked brother.

*

That afternoon, deciding it was safe to risk leaving the apartment, George donned his hooded cloak again (Though he transfigured it, so it was emerald green and embroidered with silver - so as not to risk being recognised). He set off for Diagon Alley with every intention to buy a new wand for Fred.

Olivander's Wands was now owned and managed by a young witch, the daughter of an old friend of Olivander's. He stepped into the old shop, clearly remembering the first time he'd done so (to buy his own wand many years ago) and walked up to the counter, where he waited patiently for the young owner to reappear from the storeroom to assist him.

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" the witch asked, smiling courteously.

"Yeah, I need a wand. A new one… I broke my old one, but I can tell you what it was - if that'll help?"

"Actually, it would. That might save us both some time, and the trouble of rearranging my whole store" she said amiably.

George tried quickly to recall what Fred's original wand had been made of, and its length, when he realised with a mental slap that it was identical to his own.

"Maple, Dragon heartstring core, 11 inches" he said, looking back at her expectantly.

"Hmmm, let me take a look" she replied and disappeared into the storeroom again.

George looked around fondly, nostalgically tracing the stacked shelves with his eyes. He couldn't help but ponder on how this place was where it all began for most young witches and wizards; this was their key to performing real magic for the first time. It was bittersweet, in an odd way.

"Well" the young lady said, reappearing once more. "I've got a 13 inch maple with dragon heartstring core; an 11 inch oak with dragon heartstring core; but none that exactly fit your description. Try them both?"

"No, that won't do… Then, could you make one for me?"

"I'm sure that can be arranged, if you'll be willing to wait a couple of days" she said, making a note on a piece of parchment.

"That's fine, do you know how many days exactly?"

"It will be ready on Wednesday. Is that fine?" she asked, calculating quickly.

Since Fred and George would (hopefully) be returning to Hogwarts on Friday, that would be perfect timing.

All that was left to do was to change their appearances, secure a place at Hogwarts and from there, they would begin their new lives together.

**AN:** Right. So, that was chapter 2.

Let me know what you thought!!? Reviews are always appreciated. Seriously, it's nice to feel like I actually still have some readers… (Hint. Hint…)

Also, we'll be putting up chapter 1 of Bl00dofthevine's new fic, 'Three Cheers to Friendship' (Three Cheers to Fatherhood, part 2) in a bit so all B's readers (and the rest of you) should go read that!! The story coincides with this one.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: **The contents of the following story are my own original work. The characters, trademarks and associated brands you may recognize from Harry Potter all belong to J. K. Rowling and in no way am I claiming them as my own. In order for you to fully understand a lot of the content of this story, you will need to read 'Three Cheers to Friendship' by Bl00dofthevine, as the stories entwine.

**Warnings:** **Age Restricted: M as of chapter 4, **There will be slash in the story, so if you don't like slash - YOU ARE FOREWARNED!! Don't bitch at me about it… Also, there's going to be strong language, crude humour. Etc.

**3. Appearances**

Upon his return to the apartment, George sat down to perform a crucial task that couldn't be put off any longer if they hoped to get into Hogwarts when school reopened. He had to write to the headmistress, from Aiden and Ashley Crowe's 'parents'. This he did, sincerely hoping that the fraud would not be detected, though he planned to take every magical precaution that years of tricks and deception had taught him to prevent this from happening.

'Dear Professor McGonagall,' he wrote in a small, tidy hand at the top of a piece of purple-tinged parchment.

'I am so very sorry to impose this sudden and untimely burden upon you, but I desperately need to request two places at your reputable school.

My sons, Aiden and Ashley, are currently living in London. They recently transferred back to England from where we are now staying, in Salem in the US, because I felt that they would get a better magical education from a European school. I have been putting this off for a while, but seeing as time is short, I now need to request a place for each of them at Hogwarts school. They are both fifteen, and will turn sixteen on January 31st, they were midway through their fifth year at Salem Institute.

Please write back as soon as possible,

Eleanor Crowe'

George signed and folded the letter, placing a couple of tiny, untraceable enchantments on it before sending it with the owl he'd borrowed from the old squib downstairs. After a cup of tea, he retired to bed, where Fred was already sleeping soundly.

*

The following morning, George awoke to the smell of Fred cooking yet another meal in the small kitchen nook. Where his twin found all the stuff he was using to cook with, however, was beyond him. He lay in bed for a few moments, revising the day's itinerary, before heading to the living area.

"Morning, Ashley" he said, smiling at his brother as he rounded the corner into the tiny kitchen area.

"Huh?"

"Your new name - you said I could choose it… Well, you're Ashley, and I'm Aiden. And, our surname will be Crowe. Got it?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. But, why are you calling me Ashley now? We're alone" Fred said, looking a bit puzzled.

"Well, we need to get used to it. We may as well start practicing, so, today we'll be calling each other by our new names. Try not to slip up. We can't go calling each other Fred and George in public any more, people will probably get suspicious"

George sat down and summoned the newspaper from where it had been deposited by the front door. Scanning the front page, he found nearly nothing interesting. The ministry were still working on his disappearance, and Harry had made his first public statement.

Fred set a plate of scrambled eggs, fried tomato and toast in front of him, saying, "So, what are our plans for today?"

George said nothing for a moment, thinking, before speaking finally. "Firstly, you need to take a little de-ageing potion. We need to both look around sixteen. Then we need to decide how we're going to change up our looks a bit, so people won't recognise us back at school. I wrote to McGonagall last night"

"Oh, okay cool. Well, we'll get started when we're done here" Fred said over a mouthful of scrambled egg.

"Also, we need to find a way to fix my ear" George sighed. It had been the part of this task he'd been trying to work out for days. He knew for a fact that his ear couldn't simply be re-grown or repaired with magic, it being an old curse-wound. They'd tried that when he first lost it.

Magic had advanced quite a bit in the past twenty-something years… Surely? There had to be another way by now. Some or another loophole. He'd put a bit of thought into it over the last couple of days, but to no avail. He couldn't remember ever reading about any kind of magic, anywhere, that could simply re-grow cursed-off ears. But…

"Wait a second" he said, getting up so quickly he nearly threw his plate of food across the table. He disappeared to the bedroom for a minute before reappearing with the hefty Elvegora Deteras manual in his arms. He set it down heavily and opened it up, scanning the index for something, which he quickly found.

"And now?" Fred said, eyeing the book with an apprehensive expression. He'd read a little of its contents in the last two days and he didn't like it much.

"Something I remembered seeing in here" George replied, turning to the right page. "Something about curse-wounds and kind of re-growing body parts lost to dark curses"

"Oh. Your ear?" Fred said expectantly. "So, what does it say then?"

George skimmed the first few paragraphs, stopping here and there to figure out what an instruction meant, then said, "You see, I can't really re-grow my ear, because it was lost to a dark curse. There's another way though… I'll need to find an ear. Someone else's ear…"

"What? You're going to steal an ear from somebody? Like, cut it off or something?"

"Yes, but… I'm going to have to kill them first. The body part you're repairing needs to come from a freshly dead donor, it says here"

"What?" Fred asked, scepticism plainly etched onto his face. "You're going to sew it back on?"

"That's the general idea, actually…" George replied, mirroring his brother's facial expression. It looked like a pretty advanced bit of magic, and a highly experimental method at that.

*

Early afternoon saw the twins, now completely identical again because Fred had de-aged himself sufficiently, pouring over a stack of muggle magazines. They needed to find a new identity, obviously only one person they were both planning on becoming. Finding one perfect person was proving quite difficult though, and they couldn't exactly become duplicates of some muggle celebrity either.

They'd paid a visit to the magical library earlier to find books on advanced Transfiguration, and now had a variety of spells and charms with which to permanently change various facets of their appearance. They just needed to find a couple of people whose looks to steal.

"This one" Fred said, pointing out a picture of a young muggle celebrity. He had light blue eyes and long dark hair. His dark skin had a weird yellow tinge to it though.

"His hair is nice, I like the colour. And, that style looks quite popular, I've seen it a few times now. The eyes won't work though, the blue is too close to our real eyes, and I don't like the skin colour at all…"

"Okay, so we have a hairstyle then?"

"Yeah. I say we go with that one. I like this eye colour" George held out a page he'd just torn out of his own magazine. The model in the picture that took up most of the page had deep brown eyes with dark flecks in the centre.

Fred gave it a glance, smiled and said, "Those are nice. We can go with them if you want"

"Okay, now, our skin colour… I think we should leave it like it is now, just get rid of the freckles. Maybe just lighten it a shade?" George motioned to a teenage celebrity in one of the tabloids he'd cast aside. The boy had a similar skin tone to theirs, minus the freckles.

"Sounds good. I guess that's everything" Fred said, getting up with the small stack of magazine clippings in one hand. "Shall we get started then?"

They set to work, George performing a series of rehearsals before actually attempting spells on them. He would perfect a feature on Fred first, mirroring it onto himself when done. This went on for several hours.

*

Early on Wednesday morning, after many failed attempts and painful blunders, Aiden and Ashley Crowe stood in their bedroom, surveying themselves in the full-length mirror against the door.

Both boys had black hair which fell to their necks, choppy, and with a fringe that nearly concealed one eye. Their eyes were nearly black as well, because George hadn't been able to lighten them much after a mistake on Fred which left his eyes much too dark. George's were infinitesimally lighter than Fred's. Their skin was fair, almost white, and completely free of blemishes. Fred had even pulled off a tricky piece of Transfiguration which left them both a few inches taller and leaner. On the whole, they were completely unrecognisable as Fred and George Weasley.

"Perfect" George said, as Fred ran his hand through his own thick, dark hair. "I'm going to go pick up your wand now, then we can go book shopping"

An owl had arrived late the previous night while they were still busy, addressed to their fictional mother, saying they had been accepted at Hogwarts. George picked it up and read through it again, only partly so he could quickly revise the booklist. He read the actual acceptance letter through again, hardly believing their luck.

'Mrs. Crowe,

It would be a pleasure to have your sons at our school. Term begins on January 1st, and the Hogwarts Express will leave from platform Nine and Three Quarters, King's Cross station (London) at eleven o' clock.

They will be rejoining as fifth-years, but as they haven't been in the school since first year, and were not sorted, they will be put into Slytherin House because there is room for them there. Also because they are only entering the school now, they will take our six mandatory subjects (Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Astronomy, Defence against the Dark Arts and Herbology) as well as Divinations and Ancient Runes. I hope this will be satisfactory.

Enclosed is a booklist as well as two tickets for the Hogwarts Express.

Regards,

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress of Hogwarts School'

*

In Diagon Alley, no one stared at them as if they weren't supposed to be there. Their disguises seemed to be working perfectly, and even the old names who they'd met before (Madam Malkin for one) didn't recognise them.

They picked up Fred's new wand, as well as all the things they would need for school, before returning to their apartment. George, who had been wearing a hat that covered his ears to avoid arousing suspicion, quickly began learning and revising with Fred the spell they'd be using to repair his ear.

**READ ME!!:** Sooooooo… =)

Another day, another chapter.

Let me know what you think so far, etc?

And remember, cupcakes = violence XD wonder where I stole that from…?


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: **The contents of the following story are my own original work. The characters, trademarks and associated brands you may recognize from Harry Potter all belong to J. K. Rowling and in no way am I claiming them as my own. In order for you to fully understand a lot of the content of this story, you will need to read 'Three Cheers to Friendship' by Bl00dofthevine, as the stories entwine.

**Warnings:** **Age Restricted: M from here forward, **There will be slash in the story, so if you don't like slash - YOU ARE FOREWARNED!! Don't bitch at me about it… Also, there's going to be strong language, crude humour. Etc.

**4. New Start**

The city of London was far from dead, it being so close to New Year's eve, even near midnight as it currently was. The only problem, however, was that people seemed to be hurrying about in groups, and George had (so far) not seen a tall, light-skinned teenage boy wandering around by himself. Procuring an ear was turning out to be quite a feat.

George stopped at a small, bustling bistro to pick up a croissant, sitting down for only a few minutes to eat it. After this, he resumed his search of the busy capital.

It was past midnight when he finally spotted a small group of teenage boys sitting on a pavement in a relatively quiet street, smoking a hookah. Upon approaching them quietly under his invisibility cloak, he discovered that one of them fit his criteria perfectly. The boy was tall, light-skinned, with dark hair and deep green eyes.

Standing a safe distance away, George watched the group for around half an hour, but none of the boys seemed to be inclined to leave at all. Feeling slightly desperate after almost three days of searching for a candidate, George made a rash decision. He walked around the corner of a boarded-up café, removed the cloak and then rejoined the group.

"Uh, hi" he said, walking up to the four boys and waving shyly.

All four boys looked up, none incredibly surprised by George's appearance - he was wearing his long black travelling cloak over muggle stovepipe jeans and a red sweater. Obviously, travelling cloaks weren't considered weird attire by this group.

One of the boys, a short skinny one with blonde hair, replied tentatively, "Hey, uh, do we know you?"

"I don't think so, I'm not from around here" George improvised. "I'm Aiden… Do you mind if I join you? - I've lost my friends"

"I guess that's okay" said the blonde haired one. "I'm Jesse"

"Dave" said another of the boys.

"Donovan…"

"Kyle, great to meet you" the one George'd been eyeing said, moving over to make space for George in their circle.

George sat down, taking the pipe that was offered to him. He took a deep drag and had to stifle a violent cough. The smoke, which filtered through water in the glass bottom, tasted like liquorice. It was odd.

"So, like, where are you from?" Kyle asked, looking at George over his own pipe.

"Oh, Salem… In the US. I was born here though" George replied, referring back to the story they'd created for Aiden and Ashley. The five of them sat there talking for a while, George occasionally taking a drag from one of the pipes. It was quite a pleasant contraption, once he'd gotten used to it.

"I have to head home dudes, it's nearly two. Sorry" The quietest boy, Donovan, said. He got up, and after greeting the group, left.

Kyle took out his mobile, checked something, and then he too said, "Crap. I'd better go too. I honestly didn't realise it was so late already"

Thinking fast, George nudged him and said, "I'm kind of lost, do you mind if I crash with you tonight? I'll find my friends in the morning…"

"Okay, sure. I'm about a twenty minute walk from here. My mom won't mind…"

George followed Kyle as he navigated his way through a latticework of short streets, making light conversation about inconsequential topics. They reached a small, single story house where Kyle let them into a flat behind the main building. The flat comprised of a bedroom and a small bathroom. There was a double bed, a desk with a computer, a wardrobe and a bookshelf.

"So… There's only one bed" Kyle stated, looking at George expectantly.

George, who caught the subtle hint in the other boy's voice, looked at the bed and said, "It's a double though… Should be fine?" It was freezing still, and neither of them very much wanted to sleep on the floor… However little sleeping George was actually planning on doing.

"Cool, I get dibs on the left side then…" Kyle said, stripping down to a pair of black Converse jocks. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked, motioning to his underwear.

"'Course not" George caught that subtle hint in his tone again. He may as well have fun with the boy if he'd be killing him in the end anyway. "I don't sleep in anything…"

He stripped down to his plain black boxers, and after turning away from the other boy to move next to the bed, removed those as well. George pulled back the covers and sat crossed-legged on the thick red sheet.

"No problem" Kyle said, throwing himself across the lower half of the bed unceremoniously before removing his underwear too. "Just to be fair…"

Kyle was (quite visibly) aroused. George eyed the other boy's bulging manhood attentively. The only other guy he'd ever seen aroused was Fred, when the two of them used to fool around together all those years ago. Glancing over those memories quickly took their effect, however, and George found his own length beginning to expand. Kyle was eyeing George just as interestedly as George had been eyeing him, and seemed to take George's sudden arousal as an effect of his own.

"Up for a nightcap?" Kyle asked, reaching under his bed, from where he produced a nearly full bottle of dark, milky liquid. "Chocolate liquor" he added, noticing the suspicious look that flitted over George's modified features.

"Oh. Right, sure" George said, accepting the glass Kyle poured for him. He took a few small sips of the brown milk-like drink, savouring the strength of the alcoholic beverage. It was delicious. He'd have to be careful not to drink too much though, lest he get too inebriated to kill the boy properly, or worse, botch up his ear.

Kyle downed his first glass and poured another, which he deposited on his bed-side table. George followed suite, accepting a refill and then putting his glass down too.

Suddenly, and quite without warning, Kyle was on top of him, pressing his young, toned body against the bed sheets. George, recovering quickly, reversed their positions easily and was quickly pressing Kyle against the bed with a loose hand around the green-eyed boy's throat. Winking, he planted a soft, exploring kiss on Kyle's lips.

This was very different to any experience he could remember having with Fred. It was new and exciting, like adventuring on unknown terrain. Soon the innocent kiss became fervent making out, and both boys were rolling around in a heated quest for dominance of each others' mouths, exploring one another's bodies with their hands.

When the kiss eventually broke, both boys took a break to take a few gulps of their drinks. Kyle was panting heavily, still exceedingly aroused. George took the initiative to pin him to the bed this time, and the boys continued their not-so-innocent fun.

Once done, and when both were satisfied and thoroughly worn, the boys retired for the night. George lay awake in the dark until he was sure Kyle was asleep before retrieving his wand from inside his travelling cloak.

"Somniaph Totalus" he whispered, pointing his wand at the sleeping boy, whose light snoring ceased as he fell into an impenetrably deep slumber. After dressing quickly, he grabbed Kyle around one wrist and apparated back to the apartment.

*

"Everything ready?" he asked, as he let himself into the small living area, Kyle draped over his shoulder.

"Everything's done, just like the book says…" Fred said, jumping slightly at the sudden intrusion. He'd been lounging across the small sofa. Noticing the naked boy George had brought with him, he added, "Is he dead? And where're his clothes?!"

"Long story, no time… he's just sleeping… I wanted to make sure everything was ready before killing him, and it is?"

"Yeah, I did the knife just now… All you need to do is kill him and take his ear"

George deposited the naked boy on the floor and flicked his wand at Kyle's sleeping form. His breathing ceased as quickly as his life was ended. Taking the dagger Fred offered him, he sliced a rough circle around Kyle's ear, siphoning blood away with his wand as he cut away the thin layer of skin and sinew. Carefully, he peeled the skin around the base of the ear away and then set to work cutting out the actual ear. This would have to be done very carefully, as he needed to take out the inside bits in one piece. When the ear was free he set it in a shallow dish and turned to Fred.

"Okay, you know what to do…"

George sat against the sofa, the neat hole where his ear had previously been facing the ceiling. Fred placed the fresh ear over the small crater, prodding it into place with his wand. Once he was satisfied with the placing, he referred to the open manual quickly before starting the incantation to bond the ear onto his head.

A wispy thread of deep red light issued from the tip of his wand, snaking through the skin on either side of the apparent laceration. It spiralled in and out, sewing the stolen ear onto George's head, the skin healing together in its wake.

When the spell was complete, George moved to the mirror in the bedroom to inspect Fred's work. The ear was perfect. He could hear with it, for one. The skin tones matched almost perfectly, and even the sizes were the same on both sides…

*

The twins reached Kings Cross Station just before eleven on the first of January, and had to run to make the train on time. Once on, they found an empty compartment where the sat opposite one another on the benches.

"We did it" Fred said, sighing animatedly.

"We did…"

Before they could get any more sentimental about the situation, the compartment door slid open and a familiar girl walked in. It was the one from St Mungo's - the one who George had stolen the Elvegora Deteras Manual from.

"Do you dudes mind if I sit here?" she asked, taking a seat on the far side of George's bench without waiting for an answer.

"Uh, sure… Aiden Crowe" George said, looking from her to Fred. "and this is my brother, Ashley"

"I'd never have guessed" she whispered sarcastically, opening a book and disappearing behind it as she positioned herself with her back against the side of the compartment against the wall and her feet on the bench.

"And you're Lucinda Lockheart" George said, a tone of mild playfulness in his voice. He wasn't going to let her rude sarcasm ruin their train ride.

This caught her attention, and she reappeared from behind her book looking apprehensive. "How do you know that?"

"Lucky guess, I guess" George said with a wink. Fred caught on and added, "We read minds"

"Really?" she asked, still looking a bit hesitant.

"You'll never know…" George whispered.

Lucinda returned to her book, and most of the rest of the ride progressed in relative silence, Fred and George making occasional small talk or disappearing to scout out the train.

When they were almost at school, a note arrived with a third-year boy, instructing Aiden and Ashley to see Professor McGonagall in the staff room before the start-of-term feast. This they did, and she greeted them warmly before motioning them into couches around a small coffee table.

"I am most pleased that you have decided to finish your studies at Hogwarts school" she said, unsmiling. "I trust you received your timetables and such from your parents, because you had tickets to get onto the train. Now, I've put you both in Slytherin House, as you know, and you've been put in the fifth-year dormitory with Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy and Matthew Parkinson. Understood?"

"That's perfect" George said, avoiding her eyes as she scrutinised them.

"Now, I'll introduce you to the rest of the school, and you can join your house table"

She lead the boys into the hall, which was already packed with most of the students (only a few had chosen not to attend the feast this term) and had them wait while she greeted the students.

Once they'd been introduced and were sent to join the Slytherin table, George quickly spotted Albus, Scorpius and Lily and lead Fred over to where they were sitting with Matthew and Leah.

"You're Scorpius?" George asked, looking at the blonde boy with feigned curiosity.

"Yeah, and this is Albus and Lily, and Matthew and Leah" Scorpius replied, indicating his companions.

"I'm Aiden Crowe, and this is my brother Ashley. We're new here, we've been assigned to your dorm… Mind if we sit with you?"

"Not at all" Albus laughed, obviously still high on something. He moved over to make space for the twins.

**AN: **So. There's chapter 4, with a higher rating…

I don't feel, personally, that this chapter really needed it, but I think it was a good place to take it up anyway.

Wow. I wrote a 1700 word (later) chapter earlier today, and my PC crashed and I LOST IT!! Aaah! Don't you hate it when that happens?

Anyhow - PLEASE let me know what you think?? I'm starting to feel abandoned here… LOL

Peace XD


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: **The contents of the following story are my own original work. The characters, trademarks and associated brands you may recognize from Harry Potter all belong to J. K. Rowling and in no way am I claiming them as my own. In order for you to fully understand a lot of the content of this story, you will need to read 'Three Cheers to Friendship' by Bl00dofthevine, as the stories entwine.

**Warnings:** **Age Restricted: M, **There will be slash in the story, so if you don't like slash - YOU ARE FOREWARNED! Don't bitch at me about it… Also, there's going to be strong language, crude humour. Etc.

**5. School **

"Ashley Crowe?" the Defence professor, Cawly, was doing role call.

It was the first day of classes. Fred and George were sitting toward the back of the class, a few seats in across the row from Albus and Scorpius. They weren't really paying attention.

"Ashley Crowe!" she called again, more loudly, obviously getting irritated. This time most of the class hushed down and looked in the direction of the 'new boys'.

"Oh," Fred said, after a nudge in the ribs from George, "That's me…"

"And you're Aiden?" She added, looking from Fred to George. "That's all. Take out your textbooks and open to chapter 13, page 112"

George got out the old, tattered volume of 'Modern Practical Defensive Magic, Grade 5' he'd bought, propping it up between him and Fred on the desk. They would apparently be studying Griffins. The boys, however, were far too busy studying a book on Animal Morphology they'd found in the library. It was a relatively new, and highly experimental art, whereby (much like Animagi) the practitioner could become an animal at will… The difference was that the practitioner could become any animal, any number of different times. It looked like a fun new project to undertake.

"I asked you a question, Mr. Crowe" the teacher said, suddenly appearing up their aisle. When both boys looked up at her, stowing the book quickly in Fred's bag, she repeated it. "Have you studied Griffins already at your previous school, and also, your understanding of what a Griffin is…"

She was looking at George, Aiden, so he answered. "They're big, scary things that look like eagles crossed with lions… well, they have the head and fore-body of an eagle, and the hind-body of a lion. They're dangerous, and they eat raw meat and stuff? And no, we haven't learnt about them yet…"

"Good. Ten points for Slytherin, but please pay attention when I'm talking to you"

"You guys are smart" Scorpius stated later that evening, while they were all gathered in the common room. "You could probably have answered more quickly, or eloquently, but it was good for a first-day answer"

"Er, thanks?" George said, looking up from 'Animorphology in Three Steps'. "I read about them somewhere, actually"

"So you stayed in the US?" Albus piped in. "You sound British"

"We were born here, we only moved when we were eleven. We still have our accents then, I guess" Fred said, he was growing more social by the minute, and was the one of the two of them participating in the conversation more. "Our mom sent us back, because she thinks we'll get a better education at a British school"

"And? Do you think it's better here?"

"The school is prettier… but I don't know about better. We haven't exactly been here long enough to judge"

A little while later, Albus and Scorpius excused themselves, leaving the common room to go on one of their rendezvous around the school. Leah and Matthew left shortly afterwards, returning to their respective dormitories. The only people left in the common room were Fred and George and a small group of Sixth Years.

George discarded his book on the table and lay down on the couch him and Fred were sharing, resting his head on his brother's lap. "Today went well…" It was an observation.

"It did. I feel like I missed it. Hogwarts, I mean… like I've been away from home for years and I've finally come back"

"Well, you have been gone for years, even if you were technically dead"

"Thanks for that" Fred said sarcastically, laughing. He gave George a mock-punch to the stomach.

"Well, it's true!" George laughed back. "Hey, let's go take a look around? You haven't seen the castle at night in years"

"Sounds like fun. I'll get your cloak?"

"I'll wait outside"

"But, Mr Mazin here insists that he watched you perform a Disillusionment charm on yourself"

"Yes. That's right, but something went wrong with the spell, I think. I fainted, and when I woke up, Mr Mazin was gone already, and I was still feeling faint, so I returned to my office here at the ministry"

Hermione Weasley was facing a full disciplinary hearing over her perfectly explainable absence from the Crowe interrogation. It was absolutely ludicrous. She'd already explained herself to the minister personally, and now, days later, they'd decided to put her through a whole disciplinary hearing.

A damn hearing!

"Do you know what went wrong whilst casting the Disillusionment charm, Mrs Weasley?" The old bat who was overseeing the proceedings asked, a look of smug malice on her face that ill-mirrored the condescending tone of her voice. She was obviously next in line for Hermione's job.

"No, I don't, or I would have given you a clearer explanation than 'something' wouldn't I?"

"Yes, yes, I suppose so. That's all then, you can go"

Hermione stormed out of the courtroom - her courtroom - and made her way briskly back to her office. She tried again to clearly remember what had happened the day of the Crowe interrogation. She could clearly remember casting a Disillusionment charm at the bottom of the staircase that lead up the side of the old apartment building, and then she could remember being back in her office. Everything in between was vague, blurry and completely indistinguishable.

It was a rather off-putting idea to tell the minister this though, so she'd invented a story instead. The auror, Mazin, had cleared Aiden Crowe in any case… so it wasn't as if she were withholding very important information concerning the case.

Hermione grabbed her bag and went back down to the Atrium so she could go home - it was too late to apparate straight out of her office.

Cecilia Cawly sat in her small living quarters thinking, like she often did, about George Weasley. He was still missing, and as far as she knew, the Ministry were still looking for him. She found it incredibly strange, his being missing for a full week now without a trace or lead. The Ministry were giving away absolutely nothing of any use or consequence, and whether this was because they honestly were no closer to finding him or because they didn't want to release their findings, Cili wasn't sure she wanted to know.

She'd been sitting thinking for a while - since before dinner in fact - and was growing quite agitated when she finally decided to take a walk around the castle to cool her nerves. A little night-time stroll had never hurt anyone, except maybe George. It could have been the only reason he was now gone…

She didn't care. If whoever took him took her as well, at least she'd probably be taken to George.

She'd barely reached the stairs to the kitchen-corridor when she heard the sound of muffled laughter coming from behind a portrait of a man in armour, and decided to follow the sound, perhaps hand out a detention or two if the culprits were students she didn't like...

She had her ear against the old portrait, receiving for her uncouthness a disgruntled cough from the old knight, when she heard the strangest thing. A boy. Talking. Had said George.

She'd heard a boy call another George. Except, as far as she knew, there wasn't a George currently at Hogwarts.

She strained to hear more of the muffled conversation, but the voices were moving away from her and had soon altogether disappeared. She opened the concealed door with a few taps of her wand (earning her a sneer and a snort from the knight) and followed the boys deeper down a squat passageway. The passage came to an end a few hundred yards down, and opened up to the right, where there was a staircase ending in another portrait. Through this one was a corridor in the dungeons, but the boys were nowhere to be found…

Their laughter died immediately when the portrait gave a warning cough.

"George" Fred whispered sharply, giving his brother a cautioning look. He walked a little ahead, beckoning his George to follow.

When they were a little away from the portrait hole, George whispered, "Can't afford to get caught doing something we shouldn't be on our first day back, I guess?"

"So not…"

At the other end of the tunnel, Fred let them out into the corridor that led back to the dormitories, and they hurried back to find Albus and Scorpius already back in bed and Matthew down in the common room (which was otherwise empty) drinking coffee.

Lucinda Lockheart was sitting against a tree in the courtyard when she first noticed (or rather, realised) something incredibly odd. She remembered, vaguely, sitting under the exact same tree she was sitting under at present, some time last term, but there was a fuzzy gap which prevented her from remembering exactly what she'd been doing, or when she'd gotten there or left.

Lucinda, who'd been placed under memory charms a few times at St. Mungo's, knew what their effects were on a person's memory. Obviously, they left a gap in the target person's memory, but what she paid specific attention to was the nature of the gap: a haze of space where nothing was coherent enough to be a solid memory. She recognised the sudden realisation she'd just had as having been placed under a memory charm. At school. By whom?

She fully intended to find out.

**AN: ** I'm a horrible person, I know (x_0)

Sorry I haven't updated in like, 4 months or something. I misplaced all my individual Fan Fiction (not the stuff I was writing with BoTv, luckily) but I've found it all now.

Let me know what you think, and that I haven't been deserted, and that you don't hate my face XD


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